Play Football Make Peace

Play Football Make Peace (PFMP) sponsors soccer tournaments around the world.  The purpose of these tournaments is to engage young people in constructive, healthy social activities as one aspect of healthy personal development.

The core values integral to sportsmanship make sport a valuable method of promoting peace, from the local to the international level. Sport teaches essential values and life skills including self-confidence, teamwork, communication, inclusion, discipline, respect and fair play.

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan made the following observation about the power of sport:

"People in every nation love sport. Its values, fitness, fair play, teamwork, the pursuit of excellence are universal. It can be a powerful force for good in the lives of people devastated by war or poverty, especially children. The International Year of Sport and Physical Education is a reminder to Governments, international organizations and community groups everywhere to draw on the promise of sport to promote human rights, development and peace."

The Federacion Internationale de Football Associations (FIFA) , the governing body of soccer worldwide, includes the following statement in its code of conduct:

Football has an incredible power, which can be used to make this world a better place in which everyone can live. Use this powerful platform to promote peace, equality, health and education for everyone. Make the game better, take it to the world, and you will be fostering a better world.

Of all the world's sports, what makes soccer so special as a potential peacemaker? Firstly, it is played just about everywhere in the world. Secondly, it adapts to any number of players on any surface and it costs almost nothing to play! And finally, both boys and girls can play because skill is more important than strength.

What Kind of Peace?

Peacemaking is often understood as a negotiated settlement in which various demands are satisfied and a compromise is reached. That is one form of peacemaking and it is called the Satisfaction approach.

In contrast, PFMP uses what can be called a Transformational approach.

Instead of focusing on the immediate cause of the conflict, tension or alienation, the Transformational approach considers the situation very broadly.  Often we find that relationships are more important than the immediate issues. The issues are certainly important and need to be resolved but it is equally important to increase the level of respect and understanding between different groups of people..

PFMP believes that if people change, the problem will probably change too. They may see themselves and their relationships from a different perspective.

PFMP organizes international sports tournaments as opportunities for personal transformation and for the transformation of relationships. We bring together people of different faiths, races, nationalities and cultures so that they can find commonality and build friendship through playing together.